Which to use
“ale” is a noun and “alone” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #17,419
- “ale” frequency rank
- #11,577
- “alone” frequency rank
- 28996
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | ale | alone |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | reflexo da lua na água | sozinho |
Where the eye mixes ale and alone
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 3 letters in sequence.
Why the eye confuses ale with alone
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: ale is /a.ˈle/ while alone is /əˈloʊn/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 28996, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
ale is recorded at frequency rank #17,419, classified as anoun, pronounced /a.ˈle/. alone is at rank #11,577, tagged as anadj, pronounced /əˈloʊn/.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 28996, this pair ranks #39,741 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of ale vs alone
Shared letters: ael. Private to "ale": -. Private to "alone": no.
"ale" · 3 letters · shape VCV · "alone" · 5 letters · shape VCVCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- alone ← allone · alnoe · aloen · alonne · aolne · laone
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "ale" and "alone" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "ale" or "alone"?
After this comparison
Eye-level mix-up between "ale" and "alone" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.
- Full dictionary entry for "ale" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "alone" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #39,741 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "ale" and "alone" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "acs vs ale". Nearby pair
- Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes
Confusion rank #39,741 of 75,631 scored Portuguese pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.